Good Company
by DCFanatic4life
Summary: What happens when the geekiest person in the WWE asks Chris Jericho out? What happens when the geekiest person in the WWE is Stephanie McMahon? AU Jericho/Steph
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me, the characters are owned by WWE, and the people own themselves.**

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A/N: Okay, so I probably shouldn't post anything new, but I've recently finished a couple stories so what the hell, right? I'm crazy and I'm just embracing that. So a few notes, this is AU, neither Stephanie nor Chris were ever married, Stephanie has never appeared on TV, and this takes place after his second return. You'll see how else this is AU once you read it, but I hope you enjoy, and reviews are the fuel of writing.

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"Hi, Chris."

Chris looked over at Stephanie, who was standing in front of him. Her glasses looked smudged and were dangling precariously at the end of her nose. She had some kind of dark stain near her collar and he was pretty sure she had a seed stuck in her front tooth. He gave her a polite smile and nodded his head at her. Stephanie was a sweet girl, you couldn't deny that, but he wouldn't go so far as to call her attractive. She had a nice quality about her, but that was usually what people said about girls who weren't pretty. He wouldn't say she wasn't pretty, but…well, she wasn't very pretty.

Maybe if she combed her hair more. She'd stuck it into some kind of bun, but it ended up looking like she'd been electrocuted with her hair going in every direction all at once. She never wore makeup so when she had a zit, everyone and their mother knew it, and she was a little on the…chubby side. She wasn't fat by any means, but she was nicely…rounded would be the nice word for it. If she dressed in anything more than t-shirts and ratty old jeans, she might have a figure lost somewhere in there.

Plus, she was part of the Geek Squad, as everyone called the creative team. They were filled with the geekiest of the geeks and Stephanie was the head geek. He bit his lip to keep from laughing. "Hey, Stephanie," he said instead. He knew some people would just blow her off, but he wasn't the type of guy who could do that to her.

"You were great in your match earlier," she nodded and yup, she did have a seed stuck in her teeth.

"Thanks," he told her, "just doing my job."

"I know, I mean, yeah, it's your job," she told him, "but you do it way better than a lot of other guys. Just to let you know, you know, no big deal, but I just wanted to tell you that you were doing a great job."

He nodded his head, "I always appreciate hearing that from management. It means that I'm doing what I'm getting the big bucks for."

Stephanie laughed, "That was funny."

"Thanks," he said again. He shifted his weight from foot to foot and looked around, trying to find some sort of outlet, anything or anyone to get him out of this situation. He'd never had a real conversation with Stephanie before. They'd engaged in small talk or business talk, but never an actual conversation. He didn't think she had any conversations with anyone outside of her family and the Geek Squad. She wasn't exactly popular backstage and he couldn't imagine her being popular pretty much anywhere.

That was mean of him to think though and now he felt obligated to talk to her a little longer as his punishment for thinking so harshly of someone who was just trying to be nice to him. And that was just what she was doing; she was trying to be nice and friendly and he was basically thinking of her like some kind of wild beast who was hideous and hid from mankind. She was a person too and she worked here and the least he could do was be friendly.

Stephanie didn't really seem deterred by his silence or awkward answers. "We're thinking about putting the belt back on you."

"Really?" Now this kind of intrigued him.

"I think it should go back to you, I think you deserve it, you've definitely earned it, I mean, more than anyone because you're never gone," Stephanie said, "I mean, not that you can't take time off…oh crap, please don't take time off."

Chris actually laughed, "Don't worry, Steph, I won't leave and even if I did, I doubt anyone is going to think it's because _you_ suggested it."

She pushed her glasses up and she blushed a little bit. It was actually a tiny bit endearing. "Thanks, I would hate what my dad would do to me if he knew that I pushed a wrestler out of the company. So you…are happy here then?"

"Extremely happy," he confirmed and she nodded again. Chris saw Barbie Blank over Stephanie's shoulder and he was glad for the distraction. "Hey, Barbie, what's up?"

He knew Barbie had a huge crush on him. Hell, he knew most of the divas had crushes on him. He was a good-looking, single guy. He had a bit of an ego, but he tried not to let it train-wreck out of control. He just liked to flirt with girls; that was all. He wasn't the type of guy to necessarily have one-night stands. The problem with one-night stands in the business he was in was that they never stayed secret. They always got out because chicks had loose lips and they would brag about it and the next thing he knew, he would have a million different girls throwing themselves at him.

"Hey, Chris," Barbie threw her hair over her shoulder with a quick toss. Unlike Stephanie, her hair was immaculately dyed and done, shiny waves cascading over her shoulders, not a hair out of place. She was also wearing makeup to accentuate her features while Stephanie kind of looked pale and washed out under the fluorescent lights. "Oh, hey, Stephanie."

She said it in a tone that conveyed that she really didn't care that Stephanie was there. "Hey," Stephanie said nicely, smiling genuinely at Barbie. "You look really pretty tonight, Barbie."

"Thanks, I know though," Barbie laughed, "so Chris, how much do I have to beg you to go out with the girls tonight? There'll be some guys there, but we can kick them all to the curb if you want."

"Tempting, Barb, but I'm not planning on going out tonight," he said, slinging his arm over her shoulder casually.

"That sucks," she pouted. "You never come out with us. All the other guys do and we could use a guy like you in our group."

"Maybe next time," he told her. Always keep them guessing and wanting more. It was how he played his game. "I better go, Steph, it was nice talking to you."

"Yeah, you too, Chris, bye, Barbie."

"Bye," Barbie said dismissively as she walked away with Chris. "What were you doing talking to_ her_?"

"She came up and talked to me for a little while, no big deal," Chris glanced over his shoulder and saw Stephanie picking at her teeth while she looked at a script. He'd forgotten to tell her about the seed, but he was sure she'd probably gotten it out by now.

"Uh, yeah, big deal. I mean, she's _weird_," Barbie scoffed, "everyone thinks so. That's why her dad keeps her backstage, he doesn't want to let the beast out of the cage. He's probably so embarrassed to have her as his daughter."

"Not cool, Barb, not cool," Chris said. He may think that Stephanie was a little unattractive and weird, but he would never say those kinds of things out loud or in such a manner. She was still a human being after all and didn't deserve to be made fun of like Barbie was doing. She had feelings and if she overheard that, he would feel mortified.

"What? Everyone thinks it, Chris," Barbie said. "She's weird and she never looks like…I don't even know if she has like, any clothes or if she just borrows things from the Goodwill bin."

"Barbie, come on."

"I'm just saying what everyone thinks," Barbie said. "I'm not trying to be mean or anything. She doesn't even hang out with anyone here. I don't think she even has friends though, but that's just sad."

"Yeah, it is," he told her. "I think I'm going to go."

"Wait, are you sure you don't want to go out with us tonight? It'll be really fun. We're just going to have drinks, listen to the band that's there. It's going to be fun. Don't you like fun? Don't you want to have fun?" Barbie remained completely oblivious to the fact she was being a rude bitch and Chris didn't like it.

"Not tonight, thank you," he said, turning on his heel and wandering in the other direction. He felt bad now. He had been thinking things like Barbie had, but when Barbie verbalized it, it sounded so much worse than it had in his head. He needed to stop thinking about Stephanie McMahon anyways. She would just go back to her Geek Squad and he was going to grab a shower, get his things, and get the hell out of here so he could get some sleep. The reason he didn't want to go out tonight was because he'd been out with the guys last night and tied one on and he needed sleep and bad.

"Chris, hey again!" Stephanie said, waving again. "I guess we meet again."

Chris resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but the girl really hadn't done anything. "Hey…again."

"So I was going to ask you something when we were interrupted by Barbie earlier."

"Oh, you were?" he said. She smiled at him and she still had that damn seed stuck in her teeth. "Hey, Steph, before you ask, um, not to be rude here, but I wouldn't want anyone else to see it, but you've got a seed stuck in your front teeth."

"I do?" she asked, then laughed, "Oh my God, I've probably talked to like ten people already and nobody said anything. God, no wonder people were laughing. I'm an idiot sometimes." She turned around and then picked at her teeth and then turned back around, smiling widely at him. "Is it gone?"

"Nope, it's still there," he said, then pointed to his own teeth, "it's in that one right there."

"Oh, I was on the other side, thank you," she turned around again and then he waited as she furiously did something with her mouth behind her back. She turned around again and smiled again. "Now?"

"Yeah, you got it," he told her.

"I can't believe I was walking around with a _seed_ in my mouth, that's what I get for having that strawberry-filled donut," Stephanie shook her head. "You always get a seed or something stuck in your mouth, like when you eat corn, I remember this one time, I was eating corn and-"

"Hey, Steph, you kind of wanted to ask me something," he reminded her.

Stephanie slapped her forehead. "Okay, I really am the stupidest person here tonight. Anyways, well, I was just wondering if you were doing anything tomorrow for breakfast. I know you said you were busy tonight when Barbie asked you, but since you didn't mention tomorrow morning, do you eat breakfast because I was thinking the two of us could grab something to eat."

She was asking him out? _She_ was asking _him_ out? He tried not to cringe, but there was no way he would go out with Stephanie. She wasn't his type; she was so far from his type that his type was a dot on the horizon. Stephanie was a nice girl, but that was the extent of it. He could not picture himself with her in this lifetime or any other lifetime and he may have felt bad for what he thought of her earlier, but he didn't feel bad enough to go on a date with her.

"I'm actually with someone right now."

It was a lie. He wasn't with anyone. He hadn't been with anyone seriously in months, but it seemed the easiest way to deal with the problem at hand. He didn't want to break her heart, but he didn't want to let out that he thought she was not pretty or interesting enough to go out with her. Plus, and this was selfish and shallow of him, he didn't want people seeing him with Stephanie on a date. He would _never_ live it down. All the divas would laugh at him and the wrestlers, God, the wrestlers would have a field day. They'd call him the geek fucker or something equally embarrassing and the stigma would cling to him like a film. He had a reputation and Stephanie would do nothing but drag that down.

"Oh, really? I thought you weren't," she said, frowning a little. "Is it recent?"

"Yeah, really recent, just happened…recently," he said, not thinking of anything good to aid in his lie.

"Oh, well, I'm really sorry then," Stephanie said with a shrug, pushing up her glasses again. "I guess I'll let you go then. Thanks for telling me about the seed."

"No problem," he told her.

"See ya, I guess," she waved and he waved back.

He'd just dodged a huge bullet.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you so much for all the feedback, really appreciate it, please continue to review! :)

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"Did you see that outfit she was wearing the other day?"

"What are you guys talking about?" Chris asked as he walked up to Adam and Jay. They had been laughing and looking like they were having a good time and Chris could use a good time. He'd had a hard night the night before and his head was still pounding a little. It wasn't a hangover (he never really got those) but just stress related and laughter had to help.

"Stephanie," Adam said, barely getting her name out without laughing. "We were just talking about what she was wearing the other day. That shirt that was like…I don't even know, it made her look lumpy."

"She's not that bad, you guys," Chris said as he shoved his stuff into a locker.

"Not that bad? Are you kidding me?" Adam said. "Last week, she was walking around with a paper towel stuck to the bottom of her shoe. She didn't even notice it until she _tripped_ over her shoelaces."

"Oh my God," Jay started laughing hard, "I think I would have died of laughter if I'd seen that. Where were the cameras to catch that moment?"

"Not cool," Chris shook his head. He might not like Stephanie like she wanted him to like her, but he was trying to turn over a new leaf in making fun of her. It was hurtful and he'd been so blasé in the past. She was a human being and she deserved to be treated as such. Okay, maybe he was feeling a little guilty for turning her down and then making fun of her in his own mind. He wasn't that kind of guy, he didn't want to be that kind of guy.

"Whoa, what is with you, man?" Adam asked. "Suddenly you're Stephanie McMahon's white knight? I never knew you would be into geek love. You do know that Barbie Blank wants to fuck you senseless, right? I mean, she's not exactly _my_ type, but when you can get that, you gotta take it, right?"

"I wouldn't touch that with a ten-foot pole, which is pretty close to what I've got," Chris joked.

"Are you saying, given the opportunity that you wouldn't pound that?" Adam asked.

"No, because I know where that ass has been," Chris said.

"Oh, so you just want to fuck the virginal Stephanie McMahon then," Adam taunted him.

"Ease up on him, man," Jay said, "you can't help it if the guy wants to chubby chase if that's his thing."

"Shut up," Chris said good-naturedly, taking their ribbing in stride. "I just don't want someone as sleazy as Barbie. Let her go after someone else."

"I'm surprised she hasn't stuck her hand down your pants just to give you a handjob to try and convince you to go out with her," Jay said. "I thought that would be right up Barbie's alley."

"I'm sure she's spent many a night in an alley," Adam joked and Jay laughed and shook his head.

"You guys are too much," Chris said, "besides, Stephanie's not all that bad and you know it. You know that she's actually just a nice, but…unfortunate girl."

"Unfortunate, is that what we're calling ugly nowadays?" Adam asked. "I mean, yeah, she's nice, for a geek. But she's still a geek and us guys here, we can have pretty much any woman we want so her geekiness should take her down to…I don't know, Geek-town where she can fall in geek love and have geeky, little babies."

"Who the hell are you talking about?" Paul asked as he sauntered over to grab a locker.

"Stephanie McMahon."

"That uggo," Paul chuckled, "what about her? What did she get stuck to her this week?"

"Oh dude, you heard about it too," Adam laughed and they both started laughing, Jay joining in with them. Chris busied himself taking out things from his duffel bag so he wouldn't be tempted to join in with them. Was this how he was? Did he act like this? He was kind of disgusted with himself now.

"Who didn't?" Paul said. "You know though, I've been thinking about asking her out."

"What!" Adam said and Chris perked up at Paul's declaration.

"Dude, nobody here will go near her, but why the hell not? Her father is the fucking boss around here," Paul pointed out, "if you want to get anywhere, you've got to play the politics of the game. What better way to get to the top than through his daughter. She's ugly and nobody asks her out, she's probably never had a boyfriend before, you don't think she's going to jump at the chance to go out with me. I mean, come on, a few dates and I'll have her in the palm of my hands. So hell yeah I'm thinking about asking her out."

"That's pretty crazy, dude," Jay said. "I mean, you'd have to actually go out with her, you know."

"I can deal with it, I mean, I'll just fuck chicks behind her back, she'd be so grateful to have a good-looking guy go out with her that she probably wouldn't care if I was fucking other chicks."

"You really think she won't figure this out?" Adam asked. Chris had heard enough and he slipped out of the room, but didn't close the door all the way so he could hear the rest of the conversation.

"No, she may be a geek, but that doesn't mean she'll notice anything around her, I mean, hello, the paper towel on her shoe, not exactly aware of her surroundings, now is she?"

"Still…"

"Still what, Copeland? It's not like she has anyone knocking down her door to go out with her. She'll be so starved for attention that she'll take whatever fucking scraps I'm willing to send her way and I'm not a total asshole, I'd treat her well when I was with her. And none of you dicks better take this idea from me, got it?"

Chris didn't know why, but he couldn't let that happen to Stephanie. She wasn't a bad person, she was just…she was just a little on the weird side, but she wasn't bad and she didn't deserve to have Paul use her like that. He had to find her and he had to find her fast because the way Paul was talking, it sounded like he was going to waste no time in this plan of his. He didn't want to see someone as nice as Stephanie be lead on like that.

He found her office and knocked on it firmly. Stephanie answered the door a second later. Her hair was askew tonight, pulled into a messy ponytail that had at least half her hair falling out of it and her glasses were falling off her nose again. She tried pushing it up with her nose, but it wasn't working so she pushed them and smiled. No seeds or anything stuck in her mouth this time so it was a step up.

"Chris, hey!" she said, perking up at seeing him. "Did you need something?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to come and talk to you," Chris said, "if that's okay, if you're not busy or anything…"

"Of course not, I mean, I was working on some upcoming scripts, just editing, I'm really good at finding syntactical errors so everyone likes to run everything by me, but I don't know, I don't think my particular forte is in realism," Stephanie shrugged and then laughed at herself until she snorted. Chris just smiled politely at her.

"Realism? You mean, you don't think what you write sounds like actual people talking?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Stephanie said, "I don't know, I think it sounds okay, but then my dad reads it and he's like, 'Stephanie, who talks like this?' and then I have to go over it a hundred times until it sounds okay. I just get help most of the time."

"That's smart," Chris told her.

"Like I haven't heard _that_ one before," Stephanie said, then shook her head, "I'm sorry, what did you need? Oh, you know, when I go off on tangents like that, you can feel free to cut me off, I don't really mind. Sometimes I just talk and talk and talk and…I'm doing it again, aren't I?"

This time Chris genuinely laughed, "It's okay, I understand, sometimes we have a lot to say and if you do start rambling I'll gently tell you that you're rambling."

"Thanks, so many people don't tell me when I talk too much," she shrugged, pulling her shirt down for some reason. It must have been bunching around her waist. He wondered if she did have a figure under all the baggy clothes she wore. "But I think they just don't want to listen to me."

"That's too bad," Chris said and did she have to make him feel so bad.

"It's okay," she said brightly, "I don't really care what they have to say."

He laughed again, "Well, around here, there's not much going around that's in any way intelligent so you're better off not listening to anyone anyways."

"I hope so," she gave him a look and what appeared to be a wink, but it looked like she had an eyelash in her eye. "So, I keep getting this off track, what can I do for you?"

Chris took a deep breath. Was he really going to do this? Then he thought about Paul getting his hands all over someone as nice and sweet as Stephanie and he couldn't bring himself to think about what that bastard might do to her. He didn't know much about Stephanie (nobody took the time to get to know her), but nobody deserved to be used like that, not a single person.

"You know how you asked me out a couple weeks ago?" Chris said.

"Yeah, what about it?" Stephanie asked and she looked openly at him and he was a little surprised. He'd expected her to be embarrassed considering he'd turned her down flat. She wasn't though, instead she just stood there and wondered what he was going to say next.

"Well, I know I said that I was with someone and-"

"Chris, it's okay, you don't have to apologize," she said, brushing some errant hair out of her face. If only she would just fix that ponytail, but she didn't appear to care. "I understand and there's no hard feelings at all if that's why you're here."

"Oh no, well, that…thing with the girl, it just didn't pan out the way I thought it would so…um, if that offer is still on the table then I would really…like to go out with you," he nearly had to choke that last part out, but out did it come.

"Wow, are you joking with me right now?" Stephanie asked, looking at him suspiciously. "Are your friends standing outside laughing?"

"What?"

"Is this a joke?" she asked.

"No, it's not a joke, I'm serious. I would like to take you out after the show if that's okay with you, if you're free, are you free?" he asked. She went over to the door and opened it, seeing nothing on the other side.

"You really want to take me out?"

"I really want to take you out. You asked and I said no, but now I'm asking so the date is on me, not you," he told her. She looked at him again and she stared so hard that her glasses slipped right off her nose and then fell to the ground with a clatter. She bent over to pick them up, but Chris was there first and picked it up for her and handed them to her. "Oh, uh, you have like a string or something stuck in your hair."

"I do," she started pawing around the back of her hair and Chris pulled the string out of her hair. "There you go, must have come from your sweater."

"Thanks," she said, putting her glasses back on, "was it huge?"

"No, it wasn't," he told her, "so about tonight?"

"Yes, I would really like that," she told him, giving him a smile, almost a shy one, that earlier façade of uncaring completely diminished at this point. "I would really, really like that, but only if you're sure."

Chris had to protect her from that scumbag and if this had to be the way, he would suck it up and do it. How difficult could it be? He would go out with her for a little while, throw Paul off the scent and then when Paul moved on to some bimbo, he could let Stephanie down gently and the world would go on turning.

"I'm definitely sure."


	3. Chapter 3

"So then Andre, he picks me up, and I'm screaming so hard, at least that's what my mom tells me, and I'm just staring at him, and he says something to me, and my mom said my eyes got so wide because his voice was so deep. And my mom says that my first sentence to him was asking him not to eat me."

Chris laughed, throwing his head back as Stephanie laughed too. "Wow, I can't even imagine what that was like. I mean, I never got to really meet him, but I can imagine meeting him as a kid and thinking he was scary and probably going to eat me too."

"I know, I would have been mortified if I were my mom," Stephanie laughed so hard she snorted a little. "Oops, sorry, I tend to do that when I laugh."

"It's fine," he said, grabbing his beer off the coffee table and taking a sip. "So were there any other wrestlers that you were really familiar with."

"Hulk came around a lot, but that was mostly so my dad could make sure he was always pretty happy," Stephanie shrugged. "He was nice, he always brought me stuff, but it was always his merchandise, like I couldn't get that on my own."

Chris laughed again and had to finally admit that he was having a good time with Stephanie. He'd been dreading this all night, and he'd thought of a million excuses to get out of this date, but in the end, he knew he needed to keep his promise and go. He didn't even know where to take her, and he didn't want it to be romantic because then she might get the wrong idea. He also wasn't too keen to be seen with her, at least not right now. He could just imagine the ribbing he'd get if anyone knew he was taking her out.

When he'd arrived at her room earlier, she had been dressed in a t-shirt that looked a couple sizes too big and jeans, and she told him she didn't bring anything nice to wear, so she hoped they could just stay in and hang out. It was the perfect solution, and he'd been grateful to whoever was watching up above for letting them stay in private where nobody would catch them out together.

Then they'd started talking and hanging out, and he found she was actually funny, and she had a sense of humor that matched his own. They'd ordered food, and even though he'd had to tell her a few times that she had food on her face, and after helping her clean up the spill on her shirt, they were having fun. She didn't drink much, but she'd settled on a glass of wine while he had a beer, and now they were just talking and he was surprisingly having fun.

"I just realized," she cringed, "that I've been talking about myself the entire time, and I've barely gotten a chance to hear anything about you. Isn't it weird though how long we've worked together, but like, I know nothing about you. If I talk too much, you can absolutely interrupt me and tell me—"

"You're talking too much," he said good-naturedly. She giggled and blushed slightly. Here, in her room, with the lights soft and warm, there was something almost pretty about her. He cleared his head and wondered just how strong that beer was because him thinking Stephanie McMahon, queen of the Geek Squad, was pretty, he must have been close to drunk, either that or he'd been too long without getting laid.

"Sorry," she bit her lip. "I always do that, I don't know, I guess I just don't really have a filter or anything."

"If anyone knows about not having a filter, it's me."

She laughed again, snorting harder this time, "Oh my God, I swear, I like need a Breathe Right strip all the time."

"It's fine, it's cute," he said, and was surprised that he wasn't lying. "So you wanted to talk about me, huh?"

"Yeah, definitely, I mean, what are you like? I mean, I know what you're like, sort of, but not like you, like the actual you—"

"Steph, talking too much again," he said, and she made a face, "I'm just a regular guy, I mean, I have a band—"

"Fozzy, yeah, totally a fan, I never really got to tell you that, I would have loved to have gone to a concert, but well, I probably wouldn't fit in, even though I like metal music, I know you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at me."

"You can come to any Fozzy concert you want as my personal guest," he told her.

"I know that," Stephanie paused and looked away from him for a second. "I don't know, I just never…it's not like I'm stupid, Chris."

She looked over at him then, and her eyes held everything she needed to say, but maybe she couldn't. Even with her glasses sliding down her nose _again_, it was plain to see it all in his eyes. He nodded, encouraging her to continue what she was saying. She pursed her lips and sighed, her breath sounding somehow sad and determined at the same time.

"I know what people think about me and say about me," she told him earnestly. "I'm not blind to how everyone sees me and perceives me. Nobody wants me around most of the time, and if they do, it's probably so they can make fun of me later. I'm not…I've never been popular despite my mother's attempts at changing me and almost buying me friends."

"Stephanie—"

"No, no, it's fine, I don't really care," she told him, "I really don't, I've never cared, but I just want to tell you, let you know right now that if you're doing this, if you're here with me because you pity me or if someone said something that made you feel bad for me, don't be here."

He suddenly felt about six inches tall. It wasn't exactly what he was doing with her, but it was close enough. How could he have not realized that she did know what people said about her? Of course she did, she wasn't completely oblivious, he'd learned. She saw things, and with people constantly talking about her, it was bound to get back to her sometimes. He wondered if she'd ever heard about anything he said about her, not that there was much, but there was enough.

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be," he lied. Still, he'd actually been having fun, so why tell the truth if it would only hurt her? He didn't want to hurt her, even when he asked her out, it was with good intentions.

"Okay, just making sure," she said, smiling at him now. "I've been having fun."

"Me too," then he surprised himself by saying, "what are you doing tomorrow after SmackDown?"

"Nothing, I was going to go over some storylines, do a little rewriting of things, but, I mean, if something better came along, I wouldn't be against skipping those plans, there are other days in the week."

"Then go out with me, I know you don't have anything nice to wear, and you kind of ruined that," he pointed at her shirt where there was still a big ketchup stain.

"I can grab a new one tomorrow," she said, "but, um, I can go shopping, so if you wanted to go to like an actual restaurant, I can buy something for that."

"That's what we'll do then," he told her. "I should probably get going though, it's getting late, and I wanted to hit the gym early tomorrow that way there's not as many people there."

"Okay," she said, standing up. She intended to walk him to the door, but tripped on her own feet and almost crash landed into the coffee table if not for Chris catching her before she fell. "Thanks, one time I almost broke my nose because I walked into a glass door."

"Stephanie," he laughed, "what are we going to do with you?"

"I don't know, I was just born with the clumsy gene. My mom tried to put me in gymnastics, I feel like I don't need to tell you how that turned out."

"Not well?"

"I almost took out a couple of girls when I was walking on the balance beam. It would have been a personal record for me if I'd taken out the whole team."

"I'll be sure to stay either two steps ahead of you or two steps behind you," he told her, setting her back on her feet. Holding her like he was, he saw that maybe she actually did have a figure, and it was strange. Her hair was still a mess, hanging down around her face, and her makeup looked smudged, and she still looked like a geek, but he'd learned a lot about her.

"Probably your safest bet," she told him, walking him to the door.

"I had fun tonight," Chris told her, turning to her and leaning in the open doorway.

"You sound surprised."

He was, "I didn't know if we'd had much in common."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. You have a good night, get back to your room safely, okay," she smiled at him, and when she didn't have food in her teeth, it was actually a pretty nice smile.

He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, letting his lips linger there for a second before pulling away. She looked incredibly surprised that he'd done that, shocked even, and when he gave her a warm smile, a blush crept all the way from her neck to the top of her forehead. There was something almost endearing about it.

"Thanks for the evening," he told her softly.

"You're welcome, thanks for being you," she finished lamely then looked down because it sounded stupid to say something like that.

He tipped her chin up, "Thanks for being _you_."

She seemed more at ease after he said that, and he took a step back out of the door and he waved once before heading to his hotel room. He was confused about what just happened. This was Stephanie McMahon, nobody liked Stephanie McMahon, nobody even talked to Stephanie McMahon, and yet, this was one of the best nights he'd had in a while. Actually, scratch that, this was one of the best dates he'd had in a while.

"Yo, Chris, what's up, man?" he turned and saw Randy walking down the hallway.

Chris turned around quickly, "Oh hey, what are you doing up here?"

"Um, my room is down there," he pointed behind him. "I was headed towards the vending machine, I need a snack, chips or something, where are you coming from?"

"Just heading to my room."

"Oh, didn't know you were on this floor."

"Uh yeah," Chris said, "yeah."

"Cool, so…were you coming out of that door?" Randy asked, jerking his thumb towards Stephanie's door. "Wait a second, were you with someone in there? Oh man, who is it?"

"Nobody, I wasn't with anyone," he said, "you're delusional, man. I'm beat though, gotta get some beauty sleep, not that I need it. See you later!"

He started walking quickly in the opposite direction of Randy, not letting the other man say anything to him. He wasn't sure why he didn't want anyone to know where he was, wait, yes he did, he'd just been hanging out with Stephanie, and if anyone found out, they'd crucify him…or they'd think he was doing it to get something out of her.

He liked being around her, but if that were the case, he would have to be seen with her at some point, but the shallow part of him, the one that told him he was only doing this because he couldn't let Hunter get his hands on her told him that he needed to keep it a secret for a while. The shallow part of him didn't want the ridicule that came with being with Stephanie McMahon.

The other part didn't give a shit.


	4. Chapter 4

"Where is my pen?"

"Um, it's in your hair," Shane said, pointing to his sister's hair where her pen was currently stuck. She laughed and started to pull it out only to have it get stuck about halfway out. "Do you need help, Steph?"

"No, no, I got it," she said, tugging a little bit harder and yelping when it finally came loose. She held it up triumphantly, "See, got it."

"Do you have a patch of hair missing too?" he chuckled.

"Very funny, and no, I don't," she said, but after she said it, she surreptitiously felt around the area to make sure she hadn't taken out a chunk of hair. Satisfied that she hadn't, she went back to reading the script that was laying across her lap, but she found herself distracted and she couldn't stop the smile from making her lips creep up.

"You okay over there?" Shane asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she told him, pushing her glasses up her nose so she could see him better. "Why would you ask that?"

"You look like you have some kind of joke that only you're privy to," he said, studying her for a second before going back to his work. "Smiles look good on you."

"Shut up," she told her brother before she went back to her work. Her father had already made changes to this script, numerous ones, and now she was trying to fix everything he'd done. Her father, God love him, still thought that he knew best about pretty much everything in the business despite his out-of-touch views on wrestlers and wrestling itself. It was a constant fight, one she felt she was constantly on the losing end of, but it was hard to change her father's mind.

"How much did Dad rework this week?" Shane heard her sigh and knew immediately what kind of sigh it was. Shane was, without question, her best friend. He'd been her best friend since she was a gawky, awkward child with little to no friends, and he was still in that position. She was grateful to have a brother who didn't mind her presence. Making friends was never a strong suit of hers, and while she'd made a few in college that she still kept in touch with and hung out with, they all relocated so it was harder to get together.

"Pretty much all of it," she said, "and none of this would make anyone happy."

"I don't know how you do it," he told her, "you manage to make him happy and the audience relatively happy." He laughed at his own joke, and she frowned. If she had her way, there would be some major changes around here. She was more than a writer, but nobody ever gave her any credit, nobody except her brother. "Hey, you want to get a bite after the show?"

"Can't," she said quickly, hoping her brother would take her answer at face value and move on.

"No? Do you have plans or something?" He wasn't going to drop it, she realized, and she knew he would know if she was lying, so the truth was the only way she could go about this.

"Yeah, I do, actually, sorry," she told him, trying to get back to her script.

"Going out with the other writers for a little late night writing?" he wondered, and she was tempted to say yes, that was it, because her brother would believe that. She wasn't so sure he would believe the truth.

"Not really, it's not a big deal."

"What isn't?"

"My plans, not a big deal," she said, standing up and stretching. "I'm going to head back to my office then I'm going to meet with Dad, try to get him to change some of this, wish me luck."

"Steph, what are your plans?"

"Nothing, no worries," she said, walking towards the door, but her brother was quicker and in front of her in a flash. "Shane, what is wrong with you?"

"What are your plans for the evening?" he asked her, trying to keep his voice even. His protective instincts were kicking in, and they were kicking in full force. He wasn't an idiot, he knew Stephanie's reputation around here, knew that most of the people around here thought she was a nerd, thought she had no place here, made fun of her behind her back. He never wanted that for her, and he'd be damned if he ever let her hurt if he could help it.

"I'm going out, that's it, later," she tried to push past him. "I'm going out with someone."

"A date, with who?" his voice almost became hostile, and Stephanie immediately picked up on it.

"Oh, because I'm your sister, your stupid, dorky sister, I could never get a date?" she asked.

"I didn't say that."

"Your tone implied it," she said, "I know I'm not the most gorgeous person to walk the earth, but hey, I can get a date."

"Steph, I know that, but I'm just saying—"

"That I'm not good enough for anyone here."

"I didn't say that either."

"Stop, okay," she told him, "who I go out with doesn't matter, I don't care what you think. I'm leaving, get out of my way."

"Okay," he said, knowing he was fighting a losing battle. He would just have to find out who this guy was some other way. He heard what the wrestlers said about her, even though they clamped up when he was around, and he hoped and prayed it wasn't one of them. Maybe it was just one of the other Geek Squad members and that would be fine, that would be more Stephanie's speed.

Stephanie was walking down the hallway, seething and angry and feeling a little low. She already had to deal with everyone else in the world thinking she wasn't exciting or pretty enough to breathe, she didn't need that from her brother too. She was just about to her office when she started to fall forward from a force behind her. She tripped a few steps before righting herself and looking over her shoulder.

"Oh, sorry," Brie Bella said with a phony smile. "I wasn't looking where I was going, didn't mean to trip you."

"It's fine," Stephanie told her, her voice strong as she stared Brie in the eye, hoping she was unnerving her with the fact that she wasn't going to be meek anymore. Her brother's suspicions and accusations were giving her a confidence she previously lacked.

"Good, sorry, bye!" Brie gave her a wave and nearly skipped off.

Stephanie watched her for a moment before continuing to her office, but then she thought better of it and decided to go to her father's first. She needed to get this over with, and she might as well start now. She made a sharp left and started for her father's office, preparing to do battle.

"Hey, can I tell you something?" a voice said next to her left ear.

She startled and nearly fell into the wall, but Chris caught her by the waist. "Chris! You startled me!"

"Sorry, but we really have to do something about this falling thing, maybe we find you a right foot?"

"What?"

"Two left feet," he said, explaining his own joke.

"Oh, yeah, funny."

"Wow, that sounded like it wasn't funny at all, I really tried to," he said, giving her a crooked smile. He knew people were going to stare, hell, they were probably going to talk to, but after last night, after she'd left, he'd really thought about what other people might think, and the more he thought about it, the less he actually cared. Stephanie was fun to hang out with, and he focused on that. He was Chris Jericho, he didn't care what other people thought of him, he'd never cared, that's what his entire was built on.

"Oh then, hahahaha," she pretended to laugh.

"Back to the issue at hand, um, you have a lollipop stuck to your back," he whispered, gently taking it off the back of her t-shirt.

"What?" He held it up to her and she cringed a little bit, embarrassed that she'd been caught like that. "It must have been Brie, she bumped into me a little while ago. I felt her hit my back, she must have been putting that on there."

"Are you serious?" his voice took on an edge that surprised her and made her look up at his face. He actually looked angry about it.

"I can't think of any other time," she shrugged. "It's not a big deal, it's not the first time—"

"It isn't?"

"Not really," she told him. He furrowed his brow and looked at her face. His scrutiny made her uncomfortable, and she looked away, "Like I said, don't worry about it."

"That's not…I'm so sorry that happens to you."

"Chris, it's fine," she said, placing her hand on his arm and giving it a squeeze. "I've dealt with worse, at least it wasn't in my hair, one time, there was a girl who stuck gum in my hair, I had to get the worst haircut ever because it just wouldn't come out. That's why there are like no pictures of me when I was fourteen."

"People are…" He let his voice trail off because up until a few days ago, yesterday really, he'd been one of those people, but now he was seeing a clearer picture of what Stephanie went through on a daily basis. She was incredibly brave living her life with all these hostile people around her. He was coming to respect the fact that she didn't change who she was to be someone she wasn't. She was comfortable in her own skin, and that was all everyone should strive for.

"I'm well aware of how people are," she said. "I'm glad you're not by the way."

"I don't know about that."

"I know it though," she said, "I'm really looking forward to tonight."

"Yeah, I am too," he told her, actually really looking forward to it. "Do you want me to go stick this lollipop in Brie's hair. You can record it on video and post it on the internet."

"I couldn't do that," she giggled. The thought was appealing, sure, but she would never have the guts. "I think I'm supposed to turn the other cheek or something."

"Try it," he told her, and she wasn't following what he was saying so he leaned in a little bit more, "so I can kiss it." He winked at her, and her eyes widened. She bit her lip and he leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. When he pulled away, he quickly checked to see if anyone saw him, but nobody was in their direct vicinity.

"I bought an outfit, I mean, it's just really a couple t-shirts, were you thinking fancy tonight?"

"Nah, we're going to get out late, I thought maybe something fast, you'll be fine with what you have on," he took her in for a moment, and her hair was in a messy ponytail and there was a pencil stuck behind her ear, but her clothes were a little more form-fitting today, he noticed, and he wondered if that was by design. He licked his lips a little bit, his mind actually wondering just what was under there. What would she look like dressed up?

"Good," she said. She boldly leaned over and kissed his cheek too. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah, you will, I'll come find you after the show, did you drive here?"

"Yeah, but we can meet at the hotel? So I can change."

"Okay, that sounds good, until later," he winked at her again. She walked off and he watched her go. Any other woman, and she might have put a little swing in her hips for him to enjoy, but Stephanie just clomped her way down the hall and he found he liked it better. He liked her better, and it was starting to scare him how much. He was just about to turn and walk the other way when he was slammed into the wall.

"What the hell do you think you're doing with my sister?"


End file.
